GASFIELD FREE RALLY IN LISMORE - November 1 @ 10 am

With the State Election due in March next year, Gasfield Free Northern Rivers wants to put more pressure on all state politicians to ensure that the Northern Rivers is kept gasfield free. The November 1^st Lismore Rally is an important part of this campaign.  Below is an abridged version of an email from Gasfield Free Northern Rivers.

 

 

 

For more information see http://csgfreenorthernrivers.org/news/gasfield-free-northern-rivers-rally-november-1st/

Whilst Bentley was a great win, our region is still NOT SAFE from invasive gas mining! Active licenses still cover most of the Northern Rivers and Metgasco plans to start drilling as soon as they can if the current suspension at Bentley is lifted!

With a state election looming NOW is the time to remind our politicians that we are determined to keep our region GASFIELD FREE by keeping this issue on everyone’s agenda.

Will you help us make the BIG RALLY in Lismore on November 1st one of the most powerful events in our region’s history?

 

On November 1^st the communities of the Northern Rivers will be taking the momentous step of declaring our whole region GASFIELD FREE! We will also be calling on the NSW Government to take decisive action to support our declaration by CANCELLING all the gas licences that cover our region.

 

Here’s how you can join us in making the November 1st rally a truly momentous event and help to make gasfields history in the Northern Rivers:

-Show up at 10am at Riverside Park, Lismore on Nov. 1st for the march, rally and declaration

-Pledge to bring FIVE of your family, friends or work colleagues on the day

-Spread the word

The movement for a Gasfield Free Northern Rivers has grown from strength to strength in the last four years because people like you care enough to take action.

Let’s keep building the momentum for decisive action from government by making the rally an event our politicians can’t ignore!

 

 

 

 

GASFIELD BUFFER ZONES FOR CAMDEN AND GLOUCESTER

Residents in the Camden and Gloucester areas have concerns about the proximity of coal seam gas wells to their homes.  Elsewhere in NSW most residential areas have 2 km buffer zones between them and gas wells.

 

In Camden there are gas wells within 200 metres of homes.  These wells were approved before the Government introduced the 2 km buffer zone in response to a long public campaign to keep wells away from residential areas.  Camden residents are concerned that cracks in walls and subsidence may be due to the proximity of the gasfield.

Their concerns about the gasfield increased on August 31^st when a well near Spring Farm homes leaked noisily for several hours forcing residents to call in the fire brigade.  AGL's comments following this incident are unlikely to have reassured local residents.

Last month the State Government gave AGL (the same company operating the Camden gasfield) permission to frack four gas wells less than a kilometre from homes.  (Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a process for releasing gas trapped in rock.)

An independent hydrogeologist, Professor Philip Pells, has warned of the high risk of fracking at Gloucester.  AGL's own hydrogeologist , John Ross, has also commented on  the high risk associated with fracking in these four wells.  

There is a major risk of aquifer contamination. Gloucester's position at the head of the Manning River means that any contamination could cause problems for the river and the drinking water for 75,000 people.

The approval of these wells is inconsistent with Government buffer zone policy. Why have a policy that you disregard?

The Lock the Gate organisation is calling on the NSW Government to provide the same rights and protections for Camden and Gloucester residents that everyone else in the state has.  

They are urging the government to do three things.  The first is to suspend AGL's approval to frack at Gloucester and to review all CSG approvals there.  The second is to decommission all existing wells within 2 km of homes at AGL's Camden gasfield.  The third is to investigate and prosecute all pollution incidents at AGL's Camden gasfield.

            - Leonie Blain

This article was published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on Monday 8th September, 2014.

METGASCO DRILLING AT BENTLEY UNLIKELY BEFORE NEXT YEAR'S STATE ELECTION

The suspension of Metgasco's licence to test drill for gas at Bentley (the Rosella well) north west of Casino (originally imposed February 6, 2014) was reviewed by the Office of Coal Seam Gas (OCSG) recently.  In extending the suspension the Director of OCSG stated that the company had still not met the requirements in relation to community consultation.

The company is required to undertake "genuine and effective consultation with the community" and to develop a community consultation plan.  In order for the consultation to be effective "those involved must represent a wide range of community interests".

While Metgasco had engaged in some consultation this was not considered sufficiently broad and it had not developed a community consultation plan which should have identified the relevant community interests.  The OCSG Executive Summary of its decision listed other community interests which should have been included -  Lismore and Kyogle Councils, local Chambers of Commerce, environment and other interested community groups.

The increase in local opposition to the proposed well was also referred to:  "Metrgasco's decision to defer a broader consultation program until after the Rosella Exploration Well had been drilled was not reasonable given the escalation of opposition to the activity in the Northern Rivers from the beginning of the year."

Metgasco's arrogance in failing to improve its community consultation after the initial suspension is in line with its attitude to general community concerns about gas mining, an attitude which has been obvious since it started operations in the Northern Rivers.

It is almost certain that the support the industry has had from both the NSW and federal governments has encouraged this attitude.  For example the NSW Government's help in breaking the Glenugie and Doubtful Creek blockades (at considerable expense to the public purse) was vital to undertaking those test drillings. And it is only recently that the local state National Party Members of Parliament in the Northern Rivers have withdrawn their active support for Metgasco.  And the reason is obvious - the imminence of the NSW elections to be held in March 2015.  And federal governments of both persausions have been loud in their support for gas mining and in many cases have condemned local communities for their opposition to the industry.

Metgasco has launched court proceedings against the NSW Government.  The case will be heard in October. 

Gasfield Free Northern Rivers believes that because of  "the damning evidence against Metgasco it is likely that the government will be reluctant to force invasive gas drilling on an unwilling community in an election year.  Nevertheless, the community remains vigilant and will watch the court case closely."

 

BENTLEY GAS DRILLING APPROVAL SUSPENDED

On Thursday May 15 gas-miner Metgasco's right to drill an exploration well at the Rosella site at Bentley was suspended by the NSW Minister for Resources and Energy Anthony Roberts.

Bentley, 12 km north-west of Casino in the Richmond River Local Government Area, has for months been the site of protest  by community members opposed to gas-mining in the Northern Rivers of NSW.  The Bentley protest has been a continuation of protests against Metgasco at earlier test drilling sites at Glenugie, near Grafton, and Doubtful Creek, near Kyogle.

Minister Roberts said that he suspended the  approval on the grounds "that it did not fulfil a condition of its exploration licence, namely to undertake genuine and effective consultation with the community as required." (  Minister Roberts' Media Release   )

Metgasco has apparently misled  local landowners about the type of mining it expected to undertake at Bentley, denying that the gas was in a tight sands formation, which would have meant that fracking was required for its extraction.  The local community has been well aware that the gas is locked in tight sands and is obviously very concerned about the effect fracking would have on the agricultural activities in the area.

It is interesting that the Minister also announced that he has written to the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) "following receipt of information concerning shareholdings and interests in Metgasco Limited". 

The protesters at the protest camp on the property next to the drill site have been celebrating the suspension as have many other members of the Northern Rivers community - and indeed other opponents of the CSG and the unconventional gas industry throughout NSW and further afield.  There is, however, general awareness that, while a celebration is justified, the battle against the invasive gas industry is far from over.

It is interesting to speculate on the suspension decision.  There may have been other factors contributing to it.  A possible confrontation between thousands of Bentley protesters and hundreds of police next week when Metgasco was to begin its preparation of the drill site may have worried the Government.  Compounding this may have been some nervousness about the approach of the state election due in March next year - particularly in the light of the State Government's concerns about the recent relevations in ICAC.

THE BENTLEY BLOCKADE

Things are hotting up at Bentley, the site for gas miner Metgasco's next test drill  in the Northern Rivers of NSW.  Bentley is 12 km north-west of Casino in Richmond River Local Government Area (LGA) and a short distance from Lismore - the LGA which voted resoundingly against CSG mining in a poll conducted by the Council during the last local government elections.  The strength of local opposition has been shown in the attendance of protesters at the camp on a property alongside the drill site property.

For more information:  Gasfield Free Northern Rivers

Check out the video below and encourage others to do so.

WE DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN A GASFIELD - Clarence Valley Woman Writes to Prime Minister Abbott

Lynette Eggins, a Clarence Valley resident, emailed the letter below to Tony Abbott, the Australian Prime Minister on 5 November.

Dear Prime Minister Abbott

I was pleased to hear that you have taken the time to meet with Debbie Orr from Tara in Queensland concerning the impact the gas mining invasion in Queensland has had on her family and community. It is with disgust and disbelief that we read and hear about the treatment of our fellow Australians.

As I'm sure you are aware, gas mining companies propose to invade the Northern Rivers of NSW, an area of scenic beauty and farm land, an area that we live in for the peace, tranquility and natural richness it has to offer to all Australians and overseas visitors.

It is unacceptable to us that we become like Ms Orr and the many other similarly affected residents of Queensland. The Northern Rivers is very densely populated, unlike much of the gasfield areas of our northern neighbour state. If the industry goes ahead, how does your government propose to deal with the health and environmental impacts of such an invasive industry on our close communities?

The introduction of the 2km exclusion zone is quite frankly ludicrous. How can it be that some residents of our country are being offered protection and yet others will become collateral damage? How can the Government openly discriminate against its own constituents?

I am sure government bureaucrats have no idea of the impacts such an industry would have on the Northern Rivers. For example:  we often have severe rain events. This alone is enough to create an environmental disaster. With the massive maze of creeks and river systems running off the mountains the majority of the country is underwater at these times. What will happen with the chemicals, waste water and drilling fluids when it flows away with the flood water? Will we at other times, have the waste water sprayed on our roads and crops and injected into our water supply and rivers as is happening in Queensland?

The largest industry we have is tourism - who wants to come and look at gasfields? Can you imagine the impact such a toxic industry will have on tourism and our many sustainable industries such as the fisheries and farming?

Metgasco, one of the gas mining companies with a PEL over our area, has breached safety and environmental regulations numerous times, and they are only in the exploration stage. How can they possibly manage a gas field safely ?

We do not want to live in an industrialised landscape; we do not need the gas and the government knows it (there is enough gas in Bass Strait to serve Australia for millennia - BHP have stated this)

We are an educated population; we have done our research; we know the majority of the gas is for export and we know the long term toxic affects of the gas industry. Please don't treat us as fools.

We have been surveying our residents door to door, neighbour to neighbour, and an overwhelming majority of people do not want to live in gasfields. It is time for the Government to listen to its people – mining companies have no social licence to operate in the Northern Rivers, or elsewhere in NSW for that matter.

The people of the Northern Rivers will not sit back quietly and watch our land, water, health and sustainable industries be impacted by this invasive toxic industry.

Mr Abbott, will you be remembered as the Prime Minister who listened to and stood up for his people? Or the Prime Minister who allowed mining companies and government bureaucracy to force a toxic invasive industry on his constituents? The power is in your hands Mr Abbott.

I would be pleased if you would supply answers to my questions at your earliest possible convenience.

Yours sincerely

Lynette Eggins, mother, grandmother, business woman and resident of Australia, the lucky country - or is it?

The Page Election Result and the Gas Mining Industry (including CSG, Tight Sands, Shale Gas etc).

The following letter to the editor was published in the Clarence Valley's The Daily Examiner, Lismore's The Northern Star and The Clarence Valley Review during the last week.

I find it very interesting that the media, Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) and certain members of the community are claiming ‘a mandate’ in support of the Gas Mining industry following the results of the recent Federal Election.

Firstly, ALL candidates for the seat of Page took a firm stance AGAINST the development of the Gas Mining industry in this electorate.

Secondly, the elected candidate – Mr Kevin Hogan has openly stated that he ‘will cross the floor’ in support of his stance AGAINST Gas Mining. I’m certain this would have ‘encouraged’ many members of the community (who are predominantly conservative anyway) to vote for him. I am sure that the electorate will keep him accountable to this statement. How is that a vote in support of the Gas Mining industry?

The community cannot compare political parties and results in this election, when the Nationals, Liberals and the newly formed Palmer United Party invest many hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions of dollars into advertising for the campaign. Smaller political parties do not have the advantage of such huge amounts of money being thrown at them to ‘win a seat’.

Mr Hogan’s party openly used advertising designed to deceive the community into voting for him. In particular his television advertisements blamed Ms Saffin for items (such as electricity price rises) which are legislated at state level. Unfortunately, not all members of the electorate are wise to which legislation is passed at what level of government.

It was very inappropriate for Mr Hogan to display signs at many polling booths stating ‘Vote Labor get CSG Mining’, again, information aimed to deceive the electorate and an out right lie! Gas Mining it is largely a state issue and legislated by the State Government, and which party currently holds power in the State? – you got it the National Liberal Coalition!

Petroleum Exploration and Production Licences may be revoked under certain circumstances by the State Government under the Petroleum Onshore Act 1994 without any encumbrance to the said Government. The National Liberal Coalition hold the reins with this issue!

Some action can be taken at Federal level, such as the recent introduction of the 'The Water Trigger’ under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act which our previous member Janelle Saffin pushed very hard to have introduced.

So, for individuals, media or APPEA to say that the reduced numbers voting for The Greens and the Stop CSG Party proves that the electorate wants Gas mining is just plain ludicrous, and yet another attempt at typical Political Propaganda and Mining Company Spin.

There has never been Social Licence to turn the Northern Rivers into gasfields, and it’s not likely there ever will be.

Lynette Eggins

GAS MINERS' ORGANISATION CLAIMS CSG NO LONGER AN ISSUE

According to newpaper reports, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) claims that coal seam gas (CSG) was a non-issue in the 7th September Federal Election in seats in places like the NSW Northern Rivers.

An exit poll was conducted by Crosby-Textor for APPEA in 20 seats.  These included Page and Richmond in NSW and eight seats in Queensland.  400 people were polled spread evenly across the 20 seats.  According to an article in the Clarence Valley's  The Daily Examiner the poll "found natural gas scored zero per cent as an influencing factor, even when respondents were prompted." 

Whatever the Crosby-Textor might say, the poll was scarcely a significant sample on which to base the assumptions about the attitudes in these 20 electorates. In the electorate of Page over 83,000 votes were cast and numbers in other electorates would have been similar. 

The article went on to say that APPEA "also analysed the results in a number of seats where CSG development had been touted as a  key election issue."

In  APPEA's media release  it was claimed that "Australians rejected (the) message" of those campaigning "heavily against gas extraction".

Their analysis of Page results was based on their claim  that both the incumbent Labor MP (Janelle Saffin) and the Greens candidate (Desley Banks) campaigned against CSG and both had swings against them. They forgot to mention that the National candidate (Kevin Hogan) who won the seat, also took a strong stand against gas mining in the Page electorate - as did the rest of the minor candidates. So the claim that the swing reflected attitudes to gas mining are spurious.  It is obviously another case of spin from the gas mining public relations machine.

Just where will these people go next with their propaganda as they attempt to manipulate public opinion ?

THE FEDERAL ELECTION AND GAS MINING IN NORTHERN NSW

One of the issues which received attention in the northern NSW electorate of Page well before - and then during - the federal election campaign was gas mining.  The Labor Member for Page, Janelle Saffin, and the National Party candidate, Kevin Hogan, both declared that they were opposed to coal seam gas (CSG) mining in the electorate.  Given the degree of community opposition to gas mining, it was not surprising that the candidates for both of the major parties (Labor and the Liberal-National Coalition) declared their opposition to such mining.

Despite what seemed to be a bi-partisan position on gas-mining, the Nationals chose to ignore Saffin's stated position. One of the Nationals' election posters on display outside polling booths at last Saturday's election declared:  "VOTE FOR LABOR.  GET CSG  MINING."

Election signage outside a Grafton polling booth.

The Nationals also chose to ignore the fact that Tony Abbott, leader of the Liberal-National Party Coalition, declared he supported the expansion of mining - and presumably this included gas mining. Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had made a similar statement of support for mining.

It would seem that a more truthful poster would have stated:  "VOTE FOR THE NATIONALS OR LABOR. GET CSG MINING."  The fact that the Nationals ignored their own parties' position on mining perhaps illustrates how desperate they were to win the seat.  And win the seat they did - quite comfortably. Whether this deception helped their victory, it is difficult to know.

The Nationals' poster appears an even more cynical deception given statements made before the election by their colleague, Ian MacFarlane, Shadow Minister for Resources and Energy.  MacFarlane claimed that there was likely to be a gas shortage in NSW around 2016 and that his priority, if the Coalition was elected, was "to get big quantities of gas produced in NSW."

So MacFarlane was making it plain that he would be pushing for the expansion of gas-mining in NSW.  He did not specify which, if any areas, he had in mind, but it is likely that Page, which lies in the Clarence-Moreton Basin, would be targetted.

In making the claim about shortages MacFarlane is following the lead of State Coalition Ministers who are using the pretext of an imminent shortage to push their gas-mining agenda.  This claim is a furphy because NSW has access to the gas reserves in Bass Strait which are projected to last for many more years.  The gas that the mining companies want to extract in NSW is primarily for the lucrative export market – not for domestic consumption.

So, now that the Coalition is in Government and Kevin Hogan is the Member for Page, what will happen  if the Coalition pushes for further gas exploration and the establishment of gasfields in Page?  Will our new MP stand up to his Government and the rapacious mining companies? Will he support the community which elected him ?  It will be very interesting to see how he meets this challenge if it arises.

And a final note on Mr Hogan's position.  His local National Party State MP colleagues - Chris Gulaptis in Clarence, Thomas George in Lismore and Don Page in Ballina  - all support CSG mining.  How soon will Mr Hogan change his views on CSG mining now that he has won the seat of Page ?